Honey B | Goose Island Beer Co.

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M - Smooth and velvet with minimum carbonation. No burn from the ABV at all. Really great mouthfeel.

O - I really enjoyed this one. A very nice barrel aged english barleywine that I would love to have more of. Sadly, its only on-tap and at $10 for 10oz my budget won't allow me to drink a ton of it. Wish I could get a growler of this and just drink the shit outta it!

Tried at Fobab, with notes from a second sampling at Goose Island. Served on tap in a 10 oz. snifter.

Appearance: My pour is a hazy brown color with a few hints of burgundy at the edges. A tan sea foam froth rests on top, fading to a light ring after a few minutes.

Smell: The aroma is much more bourbon forward than the flavor. After my nose processes the strong bourbon note, vanilla is the next strongest aroma. Sweet toffee, caramel, figs, and dates impart a strong sweetness, with a bit of roast malt and oak in the back.

Taste: As mentioned above, the bourbon plays a much more gentle role in the flavor, allowing the base flavors to really shine through. There is such an incredible vanilla flavor here, especially for a barleywine. The flavors are blended well together, with each component bringing more vanilla out. Caramel and toffee provide an enhanced sweetness with just a bit of roast to the malt presence up front. The gooey sweetness carries over to toffee soaked figs and dates and some rum raisin makes an appearance as well. Toward the end the bourbon presses through, helping to soften the gooey sweetness and bring out some of the barrel character as well. The finish is smooth, still fairly sweet, and full of vanilla.

Mouthfeel: My only true knock on this beer is that the carbonation feels fizzy. With a smoother, creamier carbonation, I would bump this score a point and probably the overall score half a point, really bringing it into the elite category. The rest of the body has a nice, full mouthfeel, with a gooey stickiness that is only partially softened by the barrel dryness toward the end. A bit of bourbon alcohol presence pleasantly reminds me of the 9.2% ABV.

Overall: This was a strong offering for GI to bring to Fobab. A very good bourbon barrel barleywine. This does not really push any boundaries, but there is no crime in bourbon barrel aging a barleywine well.

S - Very nice mix of your usual barleywine flavors. Oak, bourbon, vanilla, caramel, honey-soaked cakes, some fruity toffee as well. Not sure if there is actually honey in this, but I wouldn't be surprised either way.

T - Taste is again very nice, with a similar blend of oak, bourbon, caramelized sugar. The finish is heavier with oak and a moderate whiskey bite to it. Alcohol is present, but not excessive for the style - hard to evaluate without a listed ABV.

D - A very well-crafted barrel-aged barleywine. This beer was listed as a GI - Wrigleyville contribution; not sure who's in charge over there but it's a shame this sort of stuff doesn't show up there as it's only a few blocks away. I can see why this would win best in show, as it's a very good but "safe" take on a "safe" style. I'd love to be able to enjoy a snifter of this in the future.